Just a few months ago I reached out to Love Wrestling to inquire about joining their graphics teams. We had mutual friends and I was so intrigued by their product that I just knew I wanted to be apart of their team. Since joining I have had a lot of fun working with them; and so ahead of LPW 32 I want to help promote their show. This came about in the form of speaking to owner of Love Wrestling: Spencer Love! We dug into his experiences so far promoting. We also talked about the goals of the companies, and what exactly makes Love Wrestling so unique.
I wanted to start this out by asking you to give a little background about yourself. How
long have you been watching wrestling, when you go into it, why did you get into it as a
fan? And then what made you want to start a wrestling company?
Honestly, not as long as you’d think! I never grew up watching any wrestling on TV, outside of
seeing occasional highlights on The Score here in Canada. My first memory of wrestling is
Lesnar and the Big Show breaking the ring. But, my first real experience was in 2010. Shortly
after I turned 18 (the legal age here in Alberta), I ended up taking a flyer and going to a local
indie event hosted at a casino here in Edmonton by the Prairie Wrestling Alliance. I credit them
with being the reason I’m a wrestling fan. That first show had people like Michael Richard Blais,
Taya Valkyrie, Kc Spinelli, and Ravenous Randy Myers on it. When you get to see people like
that as part of your first event, how can you not fall in love with wrestling?
I think every wrestling fan, every so often, has the thought of ‘what if I could run a wrestling
show?’ I never really had a hard-set intention of starting a wrestling company. Love Wrestling
itself was even initially supposed to be a content creation brand. Like Jeff Goldblum says,
however, life, uh, finds a way. We were fortunate enough to have some sponsors interested in
running a wrestling event, and at the time, a partnership with another local promotion, Force
Pro Wrestling. We ran our first event, Change the Game, on October 15th, 2021. After that, I
was hooked, and no looking back since!
You have built strong relationships with a lot of wrestlers. Whether it’s through
interviews, quizplex or wrestling events. Was building those relationships a focus at the
beginning of LPW or did it sort of just come about naturally?
I definitely think the latter rather than the former. I don’t think there’s ever been a time where
we’ve strategically tried to have anyone on a stream or booked for a wrestling show, outside of
just trying to put on the best shows we possibly can. We’ve always aimed to build Love Pro
Wrestling with a core value of great wrestling, with better people. Each and every person who’s
been a part of LPW, whether it’s our staff, our month-by-month roster, or the guests that we’ve
been fortunate to have in-ring or on-stream, have really exemplified that. We’re lucky to have a
great group of people working together, and I think relationships naturally build from there.
You recently announced Kushida vs Marz the Specialist for your upcoming show on
November 22nd. Kushida is one of the most respected wrestlers in the world. Was he
someone you always wanted to book, and does he have any personal significance to
you?
He’s been on my personal dream list for years! With my late start in getting into wrestling, I was
introduced to Kushida through his run with NXT, and have loved his work ever since. How can
you not love Back to the Future?!
I think there are a few things that are significant about having him here to me. Personally, I love
having the opportunity to introduce wrestlers to Love Pro Wrestling, and to Edmonton as a
whole. Obviously, Alberta has an incredibly rich history in professional wrestling, but even just
speaking geographically, we aren’t the easiest area of the world to get to when it comes to pro
wrestling. It always means a lot to get to introduce people to the talent we have here, and what
a great pro wrestling city Edmonton is. And, speaking for our roster, it means a lot to me that
we get to showcase just how incredible our talent here is, too. It means the world that Kushida
chose to make his debut in Western Canada with us, and I’m psyched for our fans to get the
opportunity to see one of the world’s best live in Edmonton, Alberta. Saying that, it means just as much to me that this Friday, Kushida is going to find out just how great Marz the Specialist
is, too.
Who are some of your dream wrestlers to book? Either for interviews or the shows?
Oh, boy. Speaking on the interviews end is much easier, because there are very few people
that I wouldn’t love to talk to! I’m always in for a conversation. A dream interview for me is
Natalya. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a quick interview with her at Elimination Chamber
in 2022, but I’d love to have a full sit-down conversation with her.
On the event end? Obviously, there are a ton, but to try and keep a short list: Gabriel Fuerza,
Jake Something, Team de Tabernak, Kristara, and Deonna Purrazzo.
Are there any names you can share that you almost booked but for whatever reason it
didn’t work out?
Travel issues are the absolute bane of the wrestling industry. We’ve been scheduled, and
announced, Billie Starkz and Killer Kelly for matches. I’m not here to bury any specific airlines,
but gotta love travel issues. Obviously, I’d love to work with them in the future.
While fly ins and big names are awesome, the main meat and potatoes of your show is a
consistent roster. Super indies are fun, and absolutely have a place in wrestling, but your
show has done a great job of building up a roster that’s familiar to your fan base. The
roster feels connected and united in promoting the company. Was this also something
you knew you wanted to do ahead of the beginning of the company?
One hundred percent. It’s been foundational for us. I grew up as an independent wrestling fan
in Alberta. I grew up as a fan of so many wrestlers that work for LPW today! I’ve always
believed that this country, and especially this province, has some of the most talented
professional wrestlers on the planet. Some of the biggest stars in wrestling history, whether
you’re looking decades back or at the industry today, have been from Alberta. I mean, just look
at someone like Zoë Sager, who just became the first-ever Canadian signed to the WWE ID
program. There’s something unique about the scene here in Alberta, but in my opinion, there’s
been a lack of exposure to that talent. I challenge anyone who watches Lumberjack Larry
Woods wrestle to not fall in love with him immediately. Taryn From Accounting has been on the
PWI250 every year since Love Pro Wrestling started. Guys like Steven Crowe, TY Jackson,
Reid Matthews, and Marz the Specialist are going to be stars in this industry. I believe that this
province, and our roster, stacks up with any promotion, anywhere, and I’ll say it with my entire
heart every time I’m asked.
Another one of our foundational pieces from the very start was having an easily accessible
product. Up until the start of this year, we streamed all of our events fully free on Twitch. I
definitely think it helped us having a barrier-free platform to stream our events off the bat.
Obviously, we were a brand-new promotion in a relatively unexposed territory. It gave our
audience a risk-free opportunity to see our wrestlers perform. And, I firmly believe that when
you see any member of our roster step in the ring, you’re going to want to see them again, and
again, and again. It’s always been foundational to us that we use LPW to help lift the Canadian
wrestling scene.
Your show posters are some of the most unique on the indies and almost every show
theme is different. What goes into the planning of the next show, and how do you guys
land on the theme ideas or show names?
Some of our posters are planned months in advance, and some of our upcoming branding gets
finalized the morning of our events! It sounds simplistic, but both myself and Zak (Love
Wrestling’s co-founder) just build our graphics on albums or moments in pop culture we love. A
few of our posters have been suggested by our talent as well: for example, Michael Allen
Richard Clark was the one who suggested the Pantera cover we did for LPW 15. It’s admittedly
a much more laid-back process than even I’d expected.
You recently ran a show at the West Edmonton Mall. Can you share a little bit about how
that came about, and what that experience was like?
A dream come true, really. We want to bring professional wrestling places it’s never been
before, and the WEM Ice Palace really exemplified that. If you’ve never been to West Edmonton
Mall before, it’s quite literally a full hockey rink in the middle of the mall. We’d aimed to have an
event there quite literally since the start of LPW, and the timing and logistics just worked out
perfectly for our show there in August. Getting the chance to work with Rob Van Dam was an
surreal; he was so kind to our staff, and our wrestlers, and everyone who came out for the
meet-and-greet. Personally speaking, it was really meaningful to get to work with so many
people that were foundational to the growth of Love Pro Wrestling. There’s no hyperbole in
saying that LPW wouldn’t exist without a Zoë Sager, or Marz the Specialist, or Nicole
Matthews, or Larry Woods. Having the chance to work on this directly with MRB, Ben Oomen,
and Thaddeus Archer meant the world to me, because they’re three of the most impactful
people on my career. Seeing people from around the world of wrestling, from every promotion,
showing love to that event was unreal. The list goes on and on. Each and every person on that
show, whether in the ring, doing media, producing, refereeing, commentating, and everything in
between, was someone who’s made a direct impact on making LPW what it is today. I don’t
know if my heart’s ever been that full.
Why do you think fans should tune into LPW 32? What do you think makes an LPW show
unique?
I think we’re a perfect storm of professional wrestling. This sport’s at it’s best when it offers a
variety show, and I think we offer than in spades. I really believe that Kushida facing off with
Marz the Specialist will be a match of the year contender across the independents.
I think Love Pro Wrestling offers great pro wrestling, in an inclusive environment, in the coolest
venue in Alberta, with a hell of a positive vibe. LPW is the feeling you get in the middle of a
mosh pit. Raucous, rowdy, loud, proud, and surrounded by a community willing to pick you up
off the floor when ya get rocked. We’re punk rock pro wrestling!
What is the final takeaway you’d like to leave potential new fans with?
Professional wrestling is at it’s best when it’s surrounded by great human beings. I’m so proud
of the environment we’ve created with LPW. It’s easy to put on a great pro wrestling show.
Speaking for LPW, I’m proud that we’ve always been consistent in hosting some of the best
pro wrestling shows you’ll find above the 49th parallel, but having incredible people
surrounding us at every step.
If you haven’t had the chance to tune in to LPW, we’d love if you’d check out our final event of
2024, LPW 32: ANYWAY, HERE’S WONDERWALL, live on IWTV or in-person at the Rec Room
South Edmonton. I’m not a big fan of hyperbole, so please trust me when I say that this is
going to be one of our biggest events yet.
I appreciate Spencer Love taking the time to talk to me. I truly believe that LPW is one of the most unique indies in the world. The talent I’ve spoken with love working with them, and I personally love working with them. Please support LPW and your local indies.
Like Spencer said you can tune into LPW32: ANYWAY, HERE’S WONDERWALL live on IWTV!
You can follow Love Wrestling here and Spencer Love here.
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